23.9.10

No complaint against KPN and Vodafone for 'Smart Pricing'

SRM decided not to fail a complaint against KPN and Vodafone. This is wat Adformatie tells. The education institution was of  the opinion that the providers neglected to inform their customers about charging their phone calls by the minute instead of per second. Within 24 hours that KPN and Vodafone heared about the threatening complaint, they adjusted their communication towards their customers.

SRM heeft besloten geen klacht in te dienen bij de Reclame Code Commissie tegen KPN en Vodafone. Dat meldt de Adformatie. Het opleidingsinstituut wilde klachten indienen, omdat de providers verhulden en zelfs verzuimden te melden telefoongesprekken per minuut af te rekenen. KPN en Vodafone hebben na aanleiding van de dreigende klacht binnen 24 uur begeleidende teksten aangepast naar: 'Gesprekken worden op de hele minuut naar boven afgerond.' SRM heeft daarop besloten verder geen klachten door te zetten.

Source: © 2000 - 2010 Telecompaper


20.9.10

Smart Pricing: lawsuit against KPN and Vodafone

The trademark company SRM gets into combat with telecom operators KPN and Vodafone. Both companies would mislead their customers about calling credits they apply. Last Thursday, the company challenged KPN to court and  filed complaints with the Advertising Code Committee. The core of the complaint is that the providers don't let their cusomters pay per second anymore, but by the minute. This implicates that phone bills get at least 40% more expensive. 

Het Merkenbureau SRM bindt de strijd aan met telecomaanbieders KPN en Vodafone. Beide bedrijven zouden hun klanten misleiden over beltarieven. Het bureau daagde KPN donderdag voor de rechter en diende klachten in bij de Reclame Code Commissie.

Steen des aanstoots is dat de aanbieders hun klanten niet meer per seconde laten betalen, maar per minuut. Daardoor valt de telefoonrekening ten minste 40 procent duurder uit dan mag worden verwacht op basis van het aantal gebelde seconden. De onthulling was voor de VVD aanleiding een meldpunt te openen tegen mogelijke misleiding door telecombedrijven. Over deze dagvaarding en het zogenaamde ‘smart pricing’ initiatiefnemer en marketingdeskundige Max Kohnstamm.

Source: Radio1 on Wordpress.com

14.9.10

Hotel prices still low but on the rise: study

Global hotel prices stabilised in the first half of 2010, but after seven consecutive quarters of price falls, were still at levels seen six years ago, according to the latest Hotel Price Index.

According to Hotels.com, the average price of a hotel room rose two percent in the second quarter of 2010, the first rise since the end of 2007.While prices in all regions were either flat or down year-on-year in the first three months of 2010, by Q2 prices had risen one percent in Europe and the Caribbean, three percent in the Americas and had stabilised in Asia.

"There is considerable worry about the fragility of the economic recovery and the possibility of a double-dip recession. Hotel pricing trends, up to the end of Q2 of 2010, confirm that a stabilisation has indeed been under way in the hotel industry, and that there are hints of a recovery. Hotel prices appear to have hit the bottom in the first half of 2010, and have lately trended up 2% against the prior year, the first time prices have risen since 2007,” said David Roche, global president of Hotels.com.

“If indeed we're seeing the beginning of a true recovery, it is an uneven recovery, and one starting from a low base. Prices remain at levels not seen since 2003 or 2004 in much of the developed world – the Asian-Pacific region is the only one to show any significant growth. Business capitals of the world such as New York, London and Singapore are seeing significant price rises again – but this is not mirrored in other capitals (Dublin hotel prices fell 6% and Moscow fell 8%).”

In 2010, the key factors acting to stabilise and even improve hotel pricing are the return of corporate travel (more pronounced in North America than in Europe), the general improvement in macroeconomic conditions and the slowing down of additional new room capacity.

Positive trend

“We’re seeing travel bookings pick up around the world,” said Victor Owens, vice president of marketing, North America for Hotels.com. Owens added, “It’s stimulating to see not only the breadth of travel both domestic and international, but also the steady rise in hotel prices which is helping reinvigorate the industry. There are, of course, still deals to be had, especially in international destinations like Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Reykjavik which each saw a major drop in hotel prices during the first half of 2010.”

North American prices show modest signs of recovery

•Prices paid by travelers for hotel rooms in North America (the U.S. and Canada) rose 3 percent between Q2 2009 and Q2 2010. The North America HPI stood at 101 in Q2 2010.

•This was the first quarter in which prices rose (year-on-year) since the end of 2007. Stronger demand, both from domestic and business travelers, has given hoteliers the confidence to hold their prices and maybe start raising rates.

•Prices for hotels in the Caribbean rose by 1 percent year-on-year in Q2 2010 – again the first signs of rates increasing since the end of 2007. This meant that the Caribbean HPI stood at 100 – a recovery back to the average rate of 2004 and a sign of just how far prices had dropped during the global downturn.

•Prices across Latin America also rose by 3 percent in Q2 2010 when looked at on a year-on-year basis.
 
European prices start to recover in 2010
 
•Prices paid by travelers for hotel rooms in Europe rose 1 percent between Q2 2009 and Q2 2010 (they were flat between Q1 09 and Q1 10).

•Prices had fallen for seven consecutive quarters, from Q2 2008 to Q4 2009, so this indication of rates improving will be encouraging for hoteliers.

•The Hotel Price Index for Europe stood at 101 in Q2 2010 as a result of the modest price gains. That means that hotel rooms are now 1 percent more expensive across Europe than they were in 2004, when the Hotel Price Index was started and 16 points lower than their peak in Q2 2007.

Asia – back to Q2 2009 levels, but with a varying picture across the region

•Prices paid by travelers for hotel rooms in Asia remained stable in Q2 2010 averaging 117 points, the same level as in Q2 2009.

•Overall, Asia's Index in Q2 2010 stands at 117 points, markedly higher than when the Hotel Price Index was first started in Q1 2004. This is in contrast to every other region of the world where the Index has remained very close to the 2004 level of 100. This reconfirms the general growth in the Asian region and the increased demand for hotels in the region.

•The prices paid in Asia, and their pace of recovery, show clear variations across the region. Large business and convention hubs, like Singapore and Hong Kong, have seen rates go up on the back of returning corporate travel demand.
Source: m-travel.com

Inflation stays high as clothes, food and travel rise !

• Air transport saw the biggest August increase on record



• City expected inflation to fall back towards 2% target



• Bank of England dilemma over interest rates intensifies


Dearer air fares, rising food bills and price mark-ups on clothes after the summer sales kept Britain's inflation rate stubbornly high at 3.1% last month.

The figures, released today by the Office for National Statistics, confounded City expectations that the cost of living, as measured by the consumer prices index, would fall back towards the government's 2% target.

Air fares rose 16% in August, the sharpest rise for the month on record, while clothing and footwear prices notched up their biggest August rise since 2001 as retailers stocked up with new autumn lines. The ONS said the global jump in commodity prices was having an impact on the cost of food.
Falling fuel prices helped offset some of the increases in air travel, clothes and food but were not enough to bring the annual rate down to the 2.9% level predicted by the City.
The persistently high level of inflation will add to the policy dilemma faced by the Bank of England. It has kept the bank rate at the emergency level of 0.5% for more than 18 months in an attempt to hasten the UK's recovery from recession but also has a legal duty to hit the 2% inflation target.

Jeremy Cook, analyst at currency broker World First, said: "This figure will exacerbate divisions in the [Bank of England's rate-setting] monetary policy committee with Andrew Sentance likely to only increase the volume of his calls for interest rate rises as soon as possible. Unfortunately the recovery is still too weak and I forecast February of next year as when rates should rise first."

Alternative measures of inflation were also higher than expected in August. The Retail Prices Index – which includes more housing costs – fell from 4.8% to 4.7%. The City had pencilled in a drop to 4.6%.

James Knightley, UK economist at ING, said: "Looking to the inflation outlook, there are some concerns about food price inflation and the hike in the VAT rate at the beginning of next year, but the strengthening seen in sterling should at least help to dampen import price inflation in coming months. Meanwhile, a weak economic recovery and the headwinds of major fiscal austerity measures should dampen corporate pricing power and limit the likelihood of second-round price effects in the medium to longer term."
Source: Larry Elliott, guardian.co.uk

2.9.10

New article about ePP and PFD in largest Dutch marketing magazine 'Marketing Tribune'

Prijs je rijk - In antwoord op de vraag waartoe een event wordt georganiseerd, kun je het beestje ook gewoon bij de naam noemen, moet Pol Vanaerde, president van het European Pricing Platform, hebben gedacht. Pricing heeft niet echt een Nederlandse vertaling, maar het is véél méér dan prijszetting. Vanaerde licht toe.Allereerst het EPP.

Waar kennen we dat van?

Het European Pricing Platform is een not for profit-platform gericht op het ondersteunen van businessprofessionals die betrokken zijn bij het prijsbeleid en het implementeren ervan in een breed scala sectoren. Dit zijn in de eerste plaats uiteraard de pricingmanagers en het pricingteam, maar vanzelfsprekend ook marketeers en leidinggevenden. Het uitwisselen van pricingkennis staat centraal en we organiseren regelmatig workshops, PricingFuel Days, trainingen, webinars en congressen.

Pricing is die beruchte vierde P waar zo weinig over geschreven wordt. Waarom toch?

Het is inderdaad opmerkelijk dat de P die voor de inkomsten zorgt - de andere P’s zijn investeringen - het minst aandacht kreeg tot nu toe. Ook in het marketingonderwijs is pricing onderbelicht. Dat is opmerkelijk omdat wij in Europa toch met complexe prijsuitdagingen zitten, door bijvoorbeeld onze multichannel omgeving en specifieke landgebonden verwachtingen en gewoontes. Wellicht heeft pricing ook minder aandacht gehad omdat zowel de academische kennis als de verankerde praktijkkennis simpelweg vaak ontbrak.
 
Is pricing een specialistenvak of hoort een marketeer dat zelf in de vingers te hebben?


De verantwoordelijkheid voor pricing is in veel bedrijven versnipperd. Vooral in b-to-c-organisaties, waar marketeers meestal adviesprijzen opstellen, vaak op basis van een prijsstrategie die Europees wordt bepaald. De discountstrategie is dan dikwijls weer het domein van sales, als ook de prijsimplementatie natuurlijk. Monitoring van de prijseffectiviteit gebeurt minder, soms door controllers. General management beslist over de prijsverhogingen. In b-to-b-organisaties zie je pricing vaker als aparte afdeling, vaak naast marketing. Daar zie je dat de pricingafdeling echt als een specialiteit wordt gezien en als afstemmer van de vaak tegengestelde belangen met de marktstrategie.

Er worden de bezoeker cases in het vooruitzicht gesteld van onder meer McDonald’s en Dell. Wie van dat soort bedrijven komt praten over pricing-strategie?

Alle sprekers op onze seminars zijn ervaren pricingmanagers en -experts die bereid zijn om hun pricingkeuken tentoon te stellen in een interactieve vorm met casestudies, informele discussies en praktische tips.

€ 595,- voor de hele dag, u voelt ’m aankomen: hoe komt u aan zo’n prijs?
Waarom niet € 295,- of € 895,-?

Pricing is strategy. Om die prijs te begrijpen moet ik je vertellen over onze doelstellingen, ons businessmodel, onze waardepropositie, segmentatie. Maar waarom kom je niet gewoon en dan kun je meteen evalueren of de waarde in verhouding staat tot de prijs. Als het goed is, vertel je dat het misschien niet zo goedkoop is, maar veel méér waard. Kijk naar de bedrijven die deelnemen en je ziet dat de pricingdiscipline én de pricingfunctie in Europa binnen de bedrijven aan invloed winnen.
 
Wanneer: 28 SEPTEMBER


Waar: Hotel Schiphol A4

Hoeveel: € 595,-
MarketingTribune-lezers krijgen € 50,- korting. Stuur daartoe een mail aan brittdejager@pricingplatform.eu ovv MarketingTribune.

 
Source: Luuk Koos, Marketing Tribune